Molybdenum-doped ZnS sheets with dominant {111} facets for enhanced visible light photocatalytic activities

Abstract

ZnS is widely used as a semiconductor photocatalyst in photo-electrochemical water splitting and photodegradation under ultraviolet (UV)-light irradiation. In this work, Molybdenum (Mo)-doped ZnS sheets with dominant {111} facets are developed using a hydrothermal method with Mo ions as precursors to realize non-visible-light photocatalytic activity and reduce the recombination rate of photoexcited carriers in ZnS. Mo ions are found to play a key role in the growth process of the sheet-like structure. Mo-dopants in the ZnS sheets introduce the acceptor energy levels among the bandgaps. The light absorption range of Mo-doped ZnS sheets covers the entire visible light and even extends to the near-infrared light region. The p-type Mo-doped ZnS sheets exhibit enhanced photocatalytic activities under visible light irradiation, which is promising for the photo-electrochemistry and photo-oxidation applications.

Keywords: Doping; Molybdenum; Photocatalyst; Sheet; Visible light; ZnS.